Jam of Kentish or Flemish Cherries
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Stone the cherries.
Weigh the cherries.
Cook the cherries
Heat the cherries slowly to draw out the juice before boiling.
Stew the cherries until they are tender.
Boil quickly for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Add sugar and finish
Gradually stir in ½ lb of sugar for each pound of cherries once the pan is removed from heat.
If the cherries are very acidic, add an extra ounce or two of sugar.
After the sugar dissolves, boil rapidly for an additional 20 minutes.
Skim off any scum that forms.
Stir the jam constantly to prevent sticking.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Cherries
- Provide the fruit flavour and most of the bulk of the jam.
- Powdered sugar
- Adds sweetness, balances the cherries' acidity, and helps preserve the jam.
The step that matters
Stir the jam constantly to prevent sticking. Once sugar is added and the jam is boiled rapidly, it is thick and can scorch on the base of the pan. Constant stirring spreads the heat and keeps the sugar from burning.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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